Chapter 87: The Stranger's Temple
"Before your sellsword caught me today, I had already told my allies about this information. If nothing goes wrong, they will take action tonight. If you don't agree to my conditions, everything you've done will be for nothing." The prisoner said, and before Ian could respond, he immediately added,
"Just now when I told you that my allies would act tonight, the system already determined that I was a traitor and changed my status in the alliance to turncoat, so now you can form an alliance with me personally, and then I'll tell you where the treasure chest is."
"Is that your condition? You want to form an alliance with me?"
"Of course not," the prisoner shook his head. "You and I both know that I don't trust you, and you can't trust someone who's already betrayed an ally once. So after I tell you where the treasure is, I'll leave directly, and you can't stop me.
If you choose to imprison me, the system will also determine that you're a backstabber! I think you should still have quite a few points, right?"
"Smart guy. You're only using the alliance as a guarantee of escape, and not staying with me ensures I can't betray you." Ian paused. "But how can I be sure that you actually know the location of the treasure chest? What if you're just stalling for time? I won't be able to kill you after I form an alliance with you."
"You have to believe me. You have no choice!"
"But have you considered that even without your help, as long as I keep close watch on your allies, they'll still lead me to the treasure chest's location?"
The prisoner's face turned pale, and he suddenly remembered that 'Ser Lucien' had just mentioned that his allies were on the Street of the Sisters, which meant his allies had actually been under surveillance without their knowledge!
"Tell me the location of the treasure chest now, and I'll let you go. I swear on my honor as a knight that I would never break my word." Of course, Ian wouldn't swear by the Seven in front of the players. Instead, he offered what seemed like a more credible statement: "This is your last chance."
"I told you I don't trust you."
"You have to trust me. You have no choice!" Ian replied.
The captive hesitated for a moment, but ultimately relented: "It's an underground temple."
"You're lying! There's no temple in Flea Bottom!" Ian scoffed. If there was a temple in Flea Bottom, how could his men not have found it? After the final clue, "Sacred," came out, he'd sent people to investigate Flea Bottom, only to conclude that there was no temple there.
"That temple was torn down centuries ago, and very few people know about it.
It was once the headquarters of the armed militant order, the Poor Fellows. During the Faith Militant Uprising, they incited the smallfolk in Flea Bottom to rebel against Targaryen rule.
You know what happened next. After the death of the weak and incompetent Aenys I, Maegor the Cruel was crowned king. He immediately recaptured King's Landing and, after winning a Trial of Seven, burned the Sept of Remembrance with dragonfire.
The temple in Flea Bottom met a similar fate, quickly captured and demolished by Maegor's forces.
They tore down six of the seven shrines, but only the one dedicated to the Stranger remained.
The lord in charge at the time feared that removing the Stranger's statue would bring misfortune, so the Stranger's underground shrine was preserved."
The Stranger's underground temple in Flea Bottom! Seven hells! Ian's heart suddenly raced with excitement. This damned place directly matched all five clues provided by the system! No need for any speculation or interpretation!
But—
"Why didn't my people find anything?" Ian was frustrated. He'd clearly sent so many men to investigate Flea Bottom, so why hadn't they found anything?
"Because of the Stranger's Curse. The few people who knew about the existence of this abandoned underground temple believed it to be cursed. Just mentioning it would bring bad luck. That's what the innkeeper told me himself."
"Then why would he tell you?" Ian thought it was absurd.
"I told the innkeeper I'd give him ten gold dragons if he could provide me with a useful clue." The captive shrugged, as if to say, "How could you not understand such a simple method?"
Money talks. Ian finally realized where he had failed. If he'd investigated personally, his first response when he couldn't find anything would have been to offer more coin. But he'd sent someone else to investigate, and he'd forgotten to give them any 'discretionary funds.'
"Alright, I believe you're not lying."
"Every word I said is true."
"Of course, I know," Ian nodded. "Especially that part about bringing bad luck to anyone who mentions the Stranger's Temple." With that, Ian drew his sword and thrust forward, using all the stabbing techniques he'd practiced these past days on the player, instantly piercing his chest.
"See? Your bad luck just arrived." Withdrawing his sword, Ian turned to Roel. "Gather all the men in the Dragonpit and have them arm themselves quickly. We move tonight.
Send messengers to find the 'Foul Jester' and Ser Grantham separately. Have the 'Foul Jester' locate the temple immediately and personally lead men to guard its entrance. Tell him there may be many enemies inside and not to act rashly." Ian added,
"As for Grantham, have him move all his men to the vicinity of the Street of the Sisters and tell him to keep close watch on those men at the inn. If they head toward Flea Bottom tonight, find a place to ambush them!"
After receiving his orders, Roel quickly left the crypt.
Taking advantage of this moment, Ian quickly accessed the system interface:
[Successfully killed a player, gaining 4 points, 6 loot points, and an additional 3 Agility]
[Successfully killed three players, achieving the entry-level accomplishment: 'Butcher',
gaining 3 skill points, 5 points, and 1 Basic Skill Scroll of Choice]
Updated stats:
[Ian: Strength 27, Agility 27, Spirit 6
Skills: Basic Etiquette, Basic Common Tongue Reading and Writing, Advanced Swordsmanship, Advanced Horsemanship, Intermediate Lance
Attribute Points: 0
Skill Points: 3
Points: 25
Items: Basic Skill Scroll of Choice]
Damn! Killing a certain number of players personally actually unlocks an achievement?
Earning an achievement should be good news, but Ian felt anything but pleased. Out of caution, he'd missed countless opportunities to kill players personally at the crossroads. If he'd taken slightly more risk, he might have achieved the Intermediate Butcher achievement by now.
He'd been fine with the reward for killing the early players being halved, but the moment this achievement appeared, he felt a profound sense of regret.
But Ian knew now wasn't the time to dwell on this. After checking his character sheet, he quickly confirmed that there had been no changes to Bounty Quest 2 in his quest log, and then left the crypt.
(End of Chapter)
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